Method and apparatus for strand crimping

ABSTRACT

Multiple-end stuffer-crimping of textile strands side-by-side in a temporarily confining chamber is improved by spacing the crimped strands laterally from one another upon their withdrawal from the chamber exit and deflecting them intermittently perpendicular to the plane of their lateral spacing and longitudinal travel.

United States Patent Stanley 51 Jan. 25, 1972 I54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STRAND CRIMPING [72] inventor: Robert K. Stanley, Media, Pa.

[73] Aasignee: Technlservlce Corporation (22] Filed: Sept. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 69,742

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 718,737, Apr. 14,

1968, Pat. No. 3,553,802.

U.S. Cl ..28/1.6, 28/7214 7 Field of Search ..28/1.6, 1.7, 1 CF, 72.14

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,298,079 1]] 967 Agett et al. ..28/72. 1 4

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,435,517 H1969 Germany ..28/1 .6

Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney-McClure & Millman [57] ABSTRACT Multiple-end stuffer-crimping of textile strands side-by-side in a temporarily confining chamber is improved by spacing the crimped strands laterally from one another upon their withdrawal from the chamber exit and deflecting them intermittently perpendicular to the plane of their lateral spacing and longitudinal travel.

10 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures P A TENTED was me V 31536599 P l l 4 ,8.

Mum, ROBERT K. STAN LEY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STRAND CRIMPING This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 718,737 filed 4 Apr. 1968 for Strand Crimping, now US. Pat. No. 3,553,802, granted Jan. 12, 1971.

Means and methods for stuffer-crimping textile strands are well known. A confining or stuffing chamber having a strand entrance and exit has one or more strands fed thereinto, forced into crimped configuration against a compact wadlike mass of strand previously accumulated therein and discharged subsequently therefrom. Strand-impeding means may be interposed to apply back pressure to the strand accumulation, as in List et al. US. Pat. No. 3,027,619, or may be omitted, as in my US. Pat. No. 3,279,025. Where at least several strands are to be stuffer-crimped simultaneously in the same chamber (usually referred to as multiple-end stuffercrimping) they usually are fed thereinto arranged side-by-side in a flat web or sheet, and the chamber usually has a rectangular cross section with the long transverse dimension accommodating the web width, as in Rosenstein US. Pat. No. 3,283,387, for example.

Multiple-end operation has the apparent advantage over single-ending (i.e., treating only one strand at a time in the stuffing chamber) of greater productivity or strand throughput per stuffing chamber. However, the treatment of a single strand is more consistent or uniform than can be attained with a multiplicity of strands in the same chamber simultaneously. In particular, the quality of the outermost of multiple-end stuffer-crimped strands is often, if not invariably, inferior to that of the other strands, as well as to that of single-end stuffer-crimped strands. I

A primary object of the present invention is improvement in the consistency of uniformity of crimping and overall quality level in multiple-end stuffer-crimped textile strands.

Another object is improved winding of multiple-end stuffercrimped textile strands.

A further object is provision of apparatus for accomplishing the foregoing objects.

Other objects of this invention, together with means and methods for attaining the various objects, will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying diagrams, in which it will be understood that the representation of the form and distribution of the strand configuration is diagrammatic and stylized rather than photographic.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of apparatus useful according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

Considered in more detail, FIGS..1 and 2 show, in plan and side elevation, respectively, apparatus useful according to this invention, with the movement of certain components thereof and of strand treated thereby being indicated by arrows. Strands 9 are unwound side-by-side from beam 10 supported on axle 11 and rotated by conventional means (not shown). The unwound strands pass through comb or reed 12, through preheating enclosure 14, which may be heated in any conventional manner, and into the nip of feed rolls 18, 18 at the entrance to stuffing chamber 20.

As strands 9 leave the contact with the surface of feed rolls 18, 18' and enter the chamber, they are enabled to move out of the previous straight line and, in fact, are constrained to do so. The entering strands buckle into a modified sawtooth or zigzag crimped configuration as they are forced lengthwise .into contact with the strand accumulation already therein as more of each strand is fed in continuously. The sidemost strands in the entering web preferably are deflected by suitable means away from the chamber sidewalls and toward the interior, as prescribed in my aforementioned patent application, whereupon the resulting treatment of those sidemost strands is more nearly like that of the intermediate strands than if the sidemost strands had continued along the sidewalls as they would have done in the absence of such inward deflection.

From the exit of the stuffing chamber, the crimped strands (now designated as 9' to indicate their altered condition) pass through comb or reed 32, then over and under deflecting rolls 34 and 36, respectively, through comb or reed 38, and finally onto beam 40 rotated on axle 41 by any suitable means (not shown). Deflecting rolls 34 and 36 are mounted eccentrically in one direction and an adjacent such increment in the opon axles 35 and 37, respectively, and are phased appropriately so that as suggested by broken lines in FIG. 2 the rolls move up and down while being rotated on their axles by suitable drive means (not shown). The rolls thereby deflect the sheet or web of crimped strands up and down substantially perpendicularly to the undeflected plane defined by the lateral and longitudinal extent of the strand web.

Under the compression to which they are subjected in the stuffing chamber, the crimped strands tend to lose their individuality, especially when the individual ends comprise more than one filament. This is another disadvantage of multiple-end treatment as compared with single-end treatment. Also, as in single-end crimping, the crimps in individual filaments of each strand tend to crimp in phase with one another. Intermittent deflection of the web of crimped strands perpendicularly to the plane thereof aids in restoring the individual strands to their original identity notwithstanding their crimped configuration, as well as dephasing the crimps in adjacent filaments of individual multifilament strands. Such separation of the crimped strand ends aids in maintaining the uniformity of crimps imparted to the strands in the practice of this invention. Preferably the web is deflected periodically and positively both up and down (in effect, vibrated) from its normal position, as illustrated, without exceeding the comb or reed limits, so as to avoid disturbing the lateral separation of the strands thereby. In the interest of simplicity, however, the axis of either of the two deflecting rolls may be fixed so that all positive deflection is in one direction only, whereupon movement to restore the original position is a function of the strand tensron.

It will be noted that deflecting rolls 34 and 36 are shown phased together in their movement, i.e., they both move upward when either moves upward, and they both move downward when either moves downward. Such phasing usually is preferred because it minimizes any effect upon strand tension. However, if desired, more vigorous treatment of the strands may be accomplished by dephasing the roll movement. When the roll movements are oppositely phased (i.e., when either moves upward the other moves downward, and vice versa) a node of vibration of the web will be set up midway therealong between the respective rolls, one length increment being deflected in one direction and the adjacent length increment in the opposite direction simultaneously.

Although a preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described, certain modifications have been suggested. Moreover, other modifications may be made therein, as by adding, combining, or subdividing parts or steps, or substituting equivalents, while retaining some, if not all, of the advantages and benefits of this invention, which itself is defined in the following claims.

The claimed invention:

In multiple-end stuffer-crimping of textile strands, wherein at least several strands fed side-by-side into a temporarily confining chamber and crimped therein are withdrawn therefrom, the improvement comprising withdrawing the strands longitudinally, spaced laterally from one another, and deflecting them intermittently in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal and lateral directions.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the strands are positively deflected in alternate directions perpendicular to such plane.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the withdrawn length of the strands is divided into a plurality of length'increments, and including the steps of positively deflecting one such increment posite direction simultaneously.

4. Multiple-end crimping of textile strands, comprising the steps of arranging at least several strands side-by-side, feeding them into a temporarily confining chamber having an entrance and an exit, continuing the feeding of strands thereinto and thereby forcing the strands to move downstream from the gitudinally from the leading edge of the accumulation thereof 5 and out the exit of the chamber, spacing them laterally from one another, and deflecting them intermittently in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal and lateral directions.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein the sidemost strands are deflected laterally inward toward strands adjacent thereto upon entrance into the chamber.

6. ln apparatus for eompressively crimping textile strands, including a stuffing chamber within which the strands are confined temporarily and from which they are subsequently withdrawn, the improvement comprising means for intermittently deflecting the withdrawn strands out of their normal path.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, including a plurality of such strand-deflecting means mounted along the path of the withdrawn strands.

8. Apparatus for treating textile strands, comprising a stuffing chamber, means for spacing strands laterally from one another preparatory to entering the chamber, means for stuffing the strands into the chamber and thereby forming them into crimped configuration, means for withdrawing the crimped strands longitudinally from the chamber,.means for spacing the withdrawn strands laterally from one another, and means for intermittently deflecting the strands out of the plane of the longitudinal and lateral directions.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the deflecting means includes a roll extending transversely of the lateral extent of the strands and mounted on an eccentric axis.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, including a pair of such rolls parallel to but offset from one another on opposite sides of the plane.

t k t t 

1. In multiple-end stuffer-crimping of textile strands, wherein at least several strands fed side-by-side into a temporarily confining chamber and crimped therein are withdrawn therefrom, the improvement comprising withdrawing the strands longitudinally, spaced laterally from one another, and deflecting them intermittently in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal and lateral directions.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the strands are positively deflected in alternate directions perpendicular to such plane.
 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the withdrawn length of the strands is divided into a plurality of length increments, and including the steps of positively deflecting one such increment in one direction and an adjacent such increment in the opposite direction simultaneously.
 4. Multiple-end crimping of textile strands, comprising the steps of arranging at least several strands side-by-side, feeding them into a temporarily confining chamber having an entrance and an exit, continuing the feeding of strands thereinto and thereby forcing the strands to move downstream from the entrance and into contact with an accumulation of strand lengths previously fed thereinto and crimped therein whereupon the more recently fed strand lengths are buckled into crimped configuration, withdrawing the crimped strands longitudinally from the leading edge of the accumulation thereof and out the exit of the chamber, spacing them laterally from one another, and deflecting them intermittently in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal and lateral directions.
 5. The process of claim 4, wherein the sidemost strands are deflected laterally inward toward strands adjacent thereto upon entrance into the chamber.
 6. In apparatus for compressively crimping textile strands, including a stuffing chamber within which the strands are confined temporarily and from which they are subsequently withdrawn, the improvement comprising means for intermittently deflecting the withdrawn strands out of their normal path.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, including a plurality of such strand-deflecting means mounted along the path of the withdrawn strands.
 8. Apparatus for treating textile strands, comprising a stuffing chamber, means for spacing strands laterally from one another preparatory to entering the chamber, means for stuffing the strands into the chamber and thereby forming them into crimped configuration, means for withdrawing the crimped strands longitudinally from the chamber, means for spacing the withdrawn strands laterally from one another, and means for intermittently deflecting the strands out of the plane of the longitudinal and lateral directions.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the deflecting means includes a roll extending transversely of the lateral extent of the strands and mounted on an eccentric axis.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, including a pair of such rolls parallel to but offset from one another on opposite sides of the plane. 